Root-grubbing machine.



A. L. HALLBAUBR.

ROOT GRUBBING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. Y, 1910. RENEWBD 11011.18, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

A. L. HALLBAUBR.

ROOT GRUBBING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 7, 1910. RENEWED 11017.18. 1913.

1,089,361 Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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A. L. HALLBAUBR. ROOT GRUBBING MACHINE.

y APPLICATION FILED N0\T.7,1910v RENEWBD NOV.18, 1913. 1,089,361 Patented Ma1t3, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

A. L. HALLBAUER.

ROOT GRUBBING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1910. RENEWED 11017.18. 1913.

l 1,089,3(51 Patented MaIzS, 1914 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ALBERT L. HALLBAUER, OF-BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NOR, BYGDIRECT'AND .MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO PALMETTQ BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A. CORPORATION 0F MARYLAND.

Boor-GRUBEING MACHINE.

ineeei.

Specification of Letters Patent.

MACHINE COMPANY, IN'oonroitnfrED; `oir f retenait Mae-.ia

Application filed Nevember 7, 1910, serieu No. 591,014. Renewed November is; 191e. serieiiijo. 801,746. e

vTo all 'whom t may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT L. HAL-L'- nAUEn, a citizen of the United. States, residing at Beverly, in the' county of Essex and -State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Root- Grrubbing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

` The present' invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in root grubbing machines and more particularly to that type of root grubbing machine which is adapted to cut into small pieces vines and roots lying upon, or adjacent to, the surface of the ground.

There are comparatively large areas of untilled land in the southeastern part of the United States which can be readily putin cultivation if the masses of creepingstems and vines which cover the ground are removed. If this vegetation, which consists largely of creeping palinetto stems, is cut up into small pieces it will rot away in a comparatively short time and serve to enrich the soil, leaving it ready' for cultivation. The stems can easily be removed from the land if desired and disposed of by burning or otherwise. The character of the soil in this part of the country is sandy and contains practically no stones.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine which will out all the creeping stems and vines which lie upon the surface of the ground and which are eiii bedded in the ground a short distance below the surface and at the same time thoroughly loosen the surface soil and throw the roots embedded in the ground to the surface.

T ith this end in view one fea'tiiire of the invention contemplates the prijivision of a' plurality of power driven knives which operate with a downward slashing movement to cut the creeping stems. The knives are mounted upon a traction vehicle which moves .slowly along the surface of the ground as the knives are operated. After the vegetation upon the surface has been cut the knives are further forced into the ground to cut the roots beneath the surface and thoroughly loosen the surface soil.

i further object of the invention is to provide an improved traction vehicle upony which the knives are mounted andwhich may `be used as a road rollery or leveler in 1 conjunction with the lknives or'lnotxasde sired.

Vith this end in view a further.- feature of the invention contemplates thea-.provision of a traction vehicle supportiiizgtheffknives` i and mounted for movementupoii a k'plural-1 f ity of heavy rolls which-thoroughly llevel` the surface of the ground throughout thel entire width of the vehicle. The knives are supported upon the vehicle so that they may be raised into an inoperative position :and

clear the surface of the ground *wiien it is f desired to employ the vehicle `simply foi* leveling or when it is desiredl to move the vehicle from one place to another'wit-houtf Mechanism -is `valso i operating the knives. provided for greatlyincreasing the: speed of the vehicle when moving from one place to a'iiother with the knives in aninoperative i position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved mounting for the knives and inode of operation of the same which will enable the knives to successfully cut the largest stems which .maybejeiicoune` tered and at the same time withstand any i.

shock which may be given to them` dueto the cutting operation.

a n u u l"1 i. l With this end in vview rotataoleknife shaft is provided having a plurality" of knives supported thereon." The knives -are arranged in a spiral formation about the shaft and each knife is detachably mounted iii a knife holder and supported with tsciit`V ting edge substantially parallel to thesui'-,

ground duriiigthe cutting open In the drawings illustrating;'thel preferred; form of the invention Figure l is a side ele' vation of the improved root giaibber showing;` the knives in their workingposition, is a plan view ofthe i'ootvgiubbei" looking down upon the saine; Fig. 1311s a" Eig, 2

detail showing a plan viewofY the tr:ii'jisniis-L sion gearing with certain partscut away and shown in section; Fig'. "4f a d`et ail"' showing an elevation of the gearixngillustrated in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is. adetail illustrati--"` ing the supporting frame for the knives i' andthe means .for raising and lowering the knives, the knives being `shown in their raised or inoperative position; Fig. 6 is a detail showing aside' view of one of the ,knife blades removed from its holder; Fig. j is a section of the knife taken upon the line 7 7, Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 8 is a section of the clutch taken upon the line 8--8, Fig. 3.

vThe root grubbing machine, which con-y `mechanism is. provided for positively re taining the knives in either the operative or inoperative .position and a trip mechanism under the control of the operator is employed for disengaging the locking means when the knives are to be raised-or lowered.

A suitable type'- of motor is mounted uponV the traction vehicle in order to drive the vehicle and operate the knives and the moltor is connected with the'driving rolls and knife shaft through 'suitable clutches and driven slowly with the knives-located algthe` transmission gearing in order that the operation of the' knives and the movement of fthe vehicle may be under the control-of the 35 operator. -It is intended that when the lmives are operated the vehicle shall be front end of the machine. When it i del sired, however, to merely move the machine rapidly from one place to another with the knives raised out of operation, the direction of travel of the machine is reversed through the transmission gearing and the vehicle is driven in the opposite direction at a greatly increased rate of speed. rfhese two speeds may be conveniently referred to as the Voperative speed and traveling speed respectively. lf it is desired to operate the vehicle merely as a road roller the 'knives may be raised into an inoperative position and the vehicle-driven at the slow speed.

In the illustrated embodiment of the ini vention a plurality of knives 1 are supported upon a traction vehicle which comprises a rigid frame having side members 2 and end members 3 bolted together, the members preferably comprising a plurality of chan.- nel irons of suitable size. The frame is mounted upon a front roll 4 and side rolls 5 and 6,. each of the rolls being formed of cast iron and having a broad heavy rim to level the surface of the ground. The front roll 4' is of sul'iicient'breadth to overlap the arolls'aiud ,Gfand bear upon and level the ground; threughout the entire-width of the machine. The vehicle is guided by turning the front roll 4, which is pivotally connected to the front end of the frame by a vertical pin 5a journaled in the endy member 3, the pin 5 being pivotally connected at its lower end to a pair of forked .arms 6?* by means of a horizontal pin 7 The roll 4 is journaled between the lower ends of the forked arms 6 and this connection allows the front roll to be turned and at the same time tipped when passing ,over an obstruction without raising and tipping the entire machine. The movement of they front roll to guide the machine is controlled by a hand wheel'S, which is journaled upon a vertical bracket 9, fixed to the frame of the machine. The movement of the hand wheel 8 is communicated to the front'roll 4 ythrough a vertical shaft 10 fixed to' the hand wheel and provided upon its lower end with a worm 11 meshing with a worm wheel 12, which is mounted upon a horizontal shaft 13 journaled in the 'frame of the machine. The shaft 13 has a pulley 14 fixed thereto at each end. The pulleys 14 have the ends of the chains 15 fastened at diametricallyA opposite points to their peripheries and the chains are respectively connectedat their opposite ends tothe curved segments 17 formed upon the lower portion of the forked arms' so that a rotation of the hand wheel 8 will turnthe front roll 4 correspondingly.v

As. stated previously, the rootl grubber comprises essentially a lplurality of knives mounted upon a rotary shaft and having their cutting edges projecting obliquely to the knife holders in order that the edge-of the blade shall'be substantially parallel to ithe surface of the ground when in contacttherewith. By arranging the blades in this manner, the most efficient result is obtained, as the blade of the knife is moving in a substantially `vertical downward direction dur-V ing the cutting operation with just suiiicient movement of the knife in a horizontal direction to give a slight draw stroke and enable a slashing cut to be given. The vegetation to becut consists mainly of creeping stems of palmettoltrees which lie along the surface of the ground or just beneath the surfaceV and a downward stroke of the knives is more efficient than any other because the stems of the trees are supported from beneath and i cannot be pushed out of the way whenl the knives strike them upon the upper side. The knives contact with the surface of the ground before they have reached the limit of their downward movement, as can be clearly seen from an inspection of Fig. l and the knives are then lforced through the surface soil tothoroughly loosen the soil and at the Sametime cut the roots which are embedded in the ground to a depth o f about 8 to'lO inches and throw them tothe surface. 'The' knives are arranged to cut the roots into pieces preferably about one inch in length and are forced into the ground to a depth of nearly a foot. By cutting the roots into .small sections, they may be left upon the surface of the ground, where they will rot in a short time and fertilize the soil. The soil is sandy and contains practically no stones, so that there is no danger of nicking or dulling the cutting edges of the knives from this source. The knives 1 are mounted upon a rotary shaft 19 in a series of holders 20. Each holder 20 is provided with a pair of curved arms 21, which are mounted upon a hub 23 keyed to the shaft 19. The arms of the holders 20 are laterally offset from one another in order that the knives, which are held in the opposite ends of the arms, will be spaced apart laterally and cut at different points. Each knife 1 comprises a 'broad tapering blade 24k projecting obliquely from a rectangular shank 25 which is detachably supported in a socket Iformed in the end of each of the arms 21 and held in place by set It will be seen that the blades of the knives when placed on the shaft have their cutting edges facing outwardly and thatI the cutting edges extend at an angle to the radii of the shaft;

The knives 1 are arranged in a spiral formation about the rotary shaft and it is preferred to provide three complete convolutions of knives which extend throughout the ent-ire length of the shaft. In order to support the" knives in this manner the holders 20 are progressively stepped about the shaft so that the arms of each succeeding holder are angularly advanced through an angle of approximately 36 as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2. lith this arrangement there will be at all times three knives evenly spaced from one another which are in operation. rl"he knives, however, are rotated so much faster than the movement of the vehicle longitudinally that all of the knives will be brought into operative engagement with any one stem' before the machine has moved beyond it. In order that the knives may be raised or lowered as desired the rotary. shaft 19 is journaled in a frame comprising a pair of arms 26 which are pivotally supported at their inner ends upon a shafts 27. A pair of chains 29 and 30 are respectively connected to the opposite arms Q6 and pass over t-he pulleys 31 and 32, sup ported in the outer ends of arms 4l and to pulleys and 34C which are mounted upon opposite ends of the shaft The shaft is rotated to raise or lower the knife shaft by a hand wheel 36' operatively connected to the shaft 35 through a worm wheel 3T and worm 3S. ln order that the knives may be locked againstupward displacement when in an operative position or against downward movement when they are in an inoperative position, a locking mechanism` is provided which normally retains the knives in either their raised or lowered posit-ion but which may be readily disengaged by a trip mechanism under the control of the operator. The locking vmechanism comprises a lever 39 which is pivoted upon one of the arms 26 and ext-ends upwardly through the slotted portion of a bracket l0 fastened to one face of the rearwardly extending arm 41, bolted to one of the side members 2. The lever 39 is provided with two laterally projecting lugs i-2 and 43 which are adapted to engage with the edge of the slot formed in the bracket 40 and lock the lever 39 in position. The lever 39 is normally forced against one edge of the slot by'a spring-pressed pin ad slidably mounted in the bracket et() adjacent'to the upper end of the lever 39. lVhen the knives are in operative position, the lug 42 will contact with the under face of the bracket 40 and prevent any upward displacement ofthe knives during the cutting` operation. Then the knives are raised into an inoperative position, however, the lug 43 will contact with the upper face of the bracket 40, as shown clearly in Fig. 5, and Ilock the knives in their raised position. In order that thellocking means may be readily disengaged' to move the' knives into and out of operative position, a trip Lt5 is pivotally mounted upon the bracket 40 adjacent one edge of the lever 39, and is oscillated to move the lever against the action of the spring pressed pin ll b v a hand lever 45a mounted upon the. vehicle frame, and connected to the trip by a rod 46 and a link 17.' Upon releasing the hand lever 115, thev spring pressed pin 411 immediately forces the lever 39 to one side and locks the lever upon engagement of either the lug t2 or a3 with the bracket ll0. A guard is mounted above the revolving knives in order to prevent the cuttings and dirt which are necessarily thrown up by the knives, from flying in all directions. rlfhe guard comprises a semi-cylindrical casing 4S which is sl'ipported between the arms QG in any suitable manner. A depending bracket #les is fastened between the arms 26 in front of the guard and is adapted to support a flexible apron (not shown) which hangs down with its edge nearly touching the surface of the ground and levels the heaps of cuttings which are thrown up by the knives.

The rotary knife shaft and the traction vehicle are both operated by the one motor and suitable clutch means are provided under the control of the operator for disconnecting the knife shaft from the motor when desired. The motor for driving the traction vehicle and rotating the knives pref erably comprises a gas engine t!) of suitable size, which is supported by the cross bars 50 located in one end of the-vehicle frame. The gas engine is connected to rotate the jack ner face 'with 54is mounted upon .a supporting member 55 .keyed to the shaft and is locked against shaft 50 thrOugh'thebeVel'gears 51' and 52 and an improved clutch Which vlocks the bevel gear 52 to the shaft 530. Owing to thewei'ght ofthe moving-parts and the speed at -which .they are'run it is necessary to provide a clutch which will start 'the knives graduallyy as it is thrown in but will drive the knives at full Speed when in operative position. I This is accomplished by providing an annularring 53 keyed to the hub of the-bevel gear 52 and engaging upon its ina split ring 54. The split ring rotatiqn relatively to the shaft by a plurality of`y` laterally projecting lugs formed on connecting the ends of the ring. The toggle is operated by a lever. 57 pivoted upon the supporting'member 56 and oscillated by a lsecond ylever 59 centrallyY pi oted uponthe vhub lofthesupporting member 55. The'le- 'ver 59' is pre erably.- provided with an adjusting screw 58 which is threadedly mount- Vedin the lever 59 and'bears uponv the end of the lever 57 in order to compensate 'for wear Vin the operative parts of the clutch.

In order to -p roifide for a longitudinal adjustment of the shaft 19relatively to the shaft 27, the arms 26 are slidably supported at their inner ends upon laterally projecting portions 67 formed upon the lower ends of th'e side members'68. The laterally projecting portions ,'67 are seated in slots formed in the inner endsof the arms 26, and the arms A26' and projecting members 67 are -connected `*by adjusting screws 70 and are clamped in adjusted position by plates 711detachably mounted upon the lower sides of the arms 26 and frictionally engaging with the lower faces ofthe members 67. In order to provide for a ,longitudinal adjustment of the vshaft 27 relatively to the shaft 50, 'the shaft 27 is journaledat eachq end in the sidemem bers'68 which ,are provided with dove-tailed faces formed upon the cross member 73 upper faces 7 2 engaging with corresponding xed vehicle frame. The side members 68 moved longitudinally of the member 73 a plurality of adjusting screws 74 and are locked in any adjusted position by clamp :bolts 75.

lVhen the knives are in operation, it is desirable to drive the vehicle at a slow speed,

but when the-knives are inoperative and the vehicle is merely being moved from one place to another, a higher speed is preferable.. vFor this purpose, transmission gearing is arranged between the gas engine andthe driving rolls 5 and 6. The transmission gearing is adapted to drive the vehicle at `a slow speed in what might be termed the forward direction when the knives are operating and at a speed about've times as is supported parallel to the shaft and is connected directly to the rolls 5 and 6 by thedriving chains 8 5 and 86 respectively. A pair 'of gears 87 and 88, are slidingly mounted upon a squared portion 89 of the shaft 84, and the sliding movement is controlled by a hand lever 90, conveniently accessible to the operator. When it is desired to drive the vehicle forward at a slow speed, that is, with the knives at the front end' of the machine, the. gear 87 is moved into engagement with the gear 81, andthe shaft 84 is driven directly from the shaft 80 through the two gears'. When itis desired to discon neet the shaft 84 entirely from the shaft 80,

Awhich is pinned to the shaft. A'shaft 84 thegears 87 and1 88 are` slid into an intermediate position between the gears 8 1 and 82, and when it is desired to drive the vehicle inthe reversev direction at a comparatively high rate of speed, lthe gears vare slid still 'further along until the gear 88 meshes- -with an' idle gear 91 mounted'upon a stub shaft 92 which is below the shaft 84 and -parallel to it. ,The idle gear 91permanently engages with the gear 82 and as the gear .88is' driven through the idle gear 97 the direction of rotation of the shaft 84 is nowreversed, being through the gears 82, 91 and 88.-

' Although it is preferred to employ the specific construction shown and described, it is to be -understood'that the invention is not to be considered as limited to this construction but may be varied andmodiied within the scope of the appended claimsv Having thus described the nature and ob' ject of the invention, and the preferredforml thereof,whatis claimed is 1. A root grubbin'g' machine having, in combination, a vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a plurality of knives mounted on the rotatable means with theircutting edges facing outwardly and extending at lan angle to the `radii of the rotatable means, and means for rotating said knives at a greater speed than the longitudinal movev 12s ment of the vehicle, whereby' the knives produce a draw cut when enteringandpassing through the ground. u

' 2. A root grabbing machine having, in

combination, a motor vehicle, rotatable means mounted on'f-thevehicla'a plurality of knives mounted on the rotatable means with their Cutting tiges facing outwardly and eX- tending at an angle to the radii of the rotatable means, and means for driving the knives ot the vehicle at a greater speed than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle whereby the knives produce a draw cut when entering and passing through the ground.

3. A root grabbing machine having, in combination, a vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a plurality of knives closely arranged around the rotatable means with their cutting edges facing outwardly and extending at an angle to the radii of the rotatable means, and means for rotating said knives at a greater speed than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle whereby the knives produce a draw 4cut when entering' and passing t-hrough the ground.

4. A root grabbing machine havingyin combination, a vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a series of knives arranged in spiral formation about the rotatable means, the cutting edges of said knives facingy outwardly and extending at an angle to the radii of the rotatable means, and means for rotating said knives at a greater speed than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle whereby the knives produce a draw cut when entering and passing through the ground.

5. A root grabbing machine having, in combination, a vehicle, rotatable means mounted on the vehicle, a plurality of knives mounted on the rotatable means with their cutting edges facing outwardly and eX- ytending at an angle to the radii of the rotatable means whereby the cuttingedges will extend substantially parallel to the sur- 'face ot the ground when in contact therewith, and lmeans tor rotating said knives at a greater speed than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle whereby the knives produce a draw cut when entering and passing through the ground.

6. A rootvgrbbing machine having, in combination, a traction vehicle, means for cutting the roots, a supporting frame, means under the control of the operator for raising and lowering the frame, and locking mechanism for retaining the frame in any adjusted position comprising a lever supported on the frame', a slotted bracket tas tened to the traction vehicle, the lever eX- tending upwardlyv through the slotted portion of the bracket, a pair of lugs projecting laterallyvfrom one face of the lever and contacting with the edge of the slot to retain the lever in raised or lowered position, and trip mechanism under the control of the Operator for disengaging `the lugs, substantially as adjusted position comprising a lever supported on the frame, a slotted bracket fastened to the traction vehicle, the lever extending upwardly through the slotted p0rtion of the bracket, a pair of laterally projecting lugs on one face of the lever adapted to engage with the edge of the slot, a spring pressed pin supported in the 'bracket and normally tending to force the lugs into engagement with the edge oflthe sl tted portion, a trip mechanism under tie control of the operator for moving the le er against the action of the spring pressed pin to disengage the lugs, substantially as described.

8. A root grubbing machine having, in combination, a vehicle, a knife shaft extending transversely of the vehicle, a plurality or knives mounted thereon and arranged with their cutting edges substantially parallel'to the surface of the ground when in contact therewith, and means for positively actuating the knife shaft adapted to move the knives faster than the longitudinal movement of the vehicle, substantially as described.

9. A root grubbing machine having, in combination, a vehicle, a rotatable element extending transversely of the Vehicle, a plurality of knives closely disposed along the length of the rotating element, with their cutting edges facing outwardly and extending at an angle to-l the radii of the rotatable element, and means for rotating said knives at a greater speed than the longitudinal movement of the Vehicle, whereby the knives produce a draw cut when entering and passing through the ground.

ALBERT L. I-IALLBAUER. Vitnesses BURTON W. CARY, l RoswnLL F. HATCH, 

